Shock and Awe

To the editor: Thank you so much for allowing me to grace the cover of your newspaper (“Weapons of Choice,” Dec. 23, 2009). It’s quite an honor. I’ve lived in Fort Worth my entire life, and I’ve read the Weekly as long as I can remember. I’ve also been a fan of wrestling since the Von Erichs were around, when I was just a little boy. To see myself on the cover of your paper was like a childhood dream come true.

Then to top that off, I look a few weeks later, and there are our troops reading that very issue! Are you kidding me? The heroes who protect this country are the very heroes that inspired my wrestling character, Redwing. Talk about a dream come true – my heroes reading about me! I have never been so humbled.

Thank you for printing this and sending it to the troops, thank you Dan McGraw for writing the story, and thanks to the wrestlers, my friends, and my family for supporting me. God bless America.

Kevin Frazier-Douglas (a.k.a. Redwing)

Fort Worth

Great Vision, Great Park

To the editor: First, thanks to Dan McGraw and Fort Worth Weekly for another well-researched and informative discussion (“Greetings from Lake Worth,” Jan. 27, 2010).

Lake Worth and the surrounding city-owned land represent our citizenry’s patrimony – our inherited wealth. We are extraordinarily fortunate to have this priceless opportunity to create a world-class “Great Park,” a park system connected to the local Streams and Valleys trails throughout the city and then on to the Nature Center. It’s all possible and cost-efficient – we already own the land!

Visualize a Great Park with hike-and-bike trails, equestrian trails, a dog park (how about “Lake Woof”), water sports, wildlife viewing, and so much more. This can be an extraordinary recreational/ecological paradise for both passive and active enjoyment. We must not squander this opportunity for all citizens of Fort Worth, regional residents, visitors, and future generations to be able to enjoy the wealth of our public land and water. And the good news is that we’re moving in a positive direction. Hats off to the many who’ve worked hard for a greater vision – the thousands of individuals, directors and officers of area neighborhood groups, elected city officials, and city staff.

Fellow citizens, this is something very special for us now and for the future. Stay tuned!

Joe Waller

Fort Worth

A Scary “Way”

To the editor: I want to thank Fort Worth Weekly and Jeff Prince for staying on top of the carcinogenic gases risk within the city (“The Quality of the Test,” Jan. 27, 2010). I don’t live in Fort Worth, but I do spend all day there every business day. I don’t see reporting like that in any of the local daily papers, and with the gas-friendly administration in the city, it’s impossible to believe the people here can rest assured the industry will self-regulate sufficiently to keep the innocent safe.

I believe that once your body develops cancer, you can’t ever really cure it. The most you can hope for is to snuff it out until it crops back up again. That’s why it’s so critically important that it’s never allowed to get started. Even slight amounts of toxic gases in the city are outrageous and unacceptable.

The “Fort Worth way” isn’t anything to be proud of, and it scares the socks off of me that it also includes permitting Chesapeake to take over and rule whatever they want to in the name of profits and stock prices. I believe they truly couldn’t care less what they mow down on their way.

Chris M. Waring

Hurst

No More Puppeteers

To the editor: Ted Rall wrote a compelling essay about Haiti in the Weekly (On Second Thought, Jan. 27, 2010). While the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere is suffering from the fallout of the massive earthquake and its lineage of poverty, America has come to the rescue with millions donated by its citizens. It will not be enough to simply feed the displaced people or rebuild their homes so that they can withstand earthquakes. Much must be done about our attitude of corruption and lording it over a basically undereducated country. Even amid the inherent corruption, many of the victims have publicly voiced their appreciation to others and to us for assisting them. It’s been a worldwide effort to distribute food, medical expertise, and medicine. We are in the limelight for the Haiti relief. We now need to help the country get stabilized – but without taut reins of control. We need to set the people free from marionette rule from those who elect themselves as puppeteers.

Since 1994, Fort Worth Weekly has provided a vibrant alternative to North Texas’ often-timid mainstream media outlets by offering incisive, irreverent reportage that keeps readers well informed and the powers-that-be worried.